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2020-03-17
Agenda
Not posted
What was on the agenda.
Packet
Not posted
The supporting materials council reviewed.
One-line summary
Council unanimously voted not to declare a local emergency, reduced public access to city facilities through March 31, continued emergency-management and fire-service planning, and reviewed COVID-19 public-safety response changes.
7 items as recorded in the packet and minutes.
1Call to order and attendance
The emergency special meeting was opened and attendance was recorded, including Council Member Rainville participating by phone.
Call to order and attendance only.
2Decision on local emergency declaration
Council considered whether the City of Nowthen should declare its own local emergency in response to COVID-19 declarations at other levels of government.
Council approved a motion that the city not declare a local emergency at this time.
3City facilities, parks, meetings, permits, and code enforcement during COVID-19
Council discussed closing City Hall, the recycling facility, and changing public access to parks and other facilities during the COVID-19 response.
No separate formal vote was recorded, but the minutes state the facilities would be closed or posted and services limited.
4Use of Capstone/Jerry Streich for emergency management and fire services planning
Council discussed the continuing use of Capstone Professional Safety Solutions and Jerry Streich for public safety, emergency management, and fire service planning.
No separate formal vote was recorded; the minutes state the mayor proposed continuing the existing arrangement and using the consultant more up front during the emergency.
5Sheriff, fire, and medical response during COVID-19
Commander Heath and Jerry Streich briefed Council on sheriff, fire, ambulance, and medical-response practices during the pandemic.
Briefing and discussion only; no motion was recorded.
6Resident communication, local business support, and volunteers
Council discussed public information, business impacts, and how to connect residents offering or needing help during the pandemic.
Discussion only; no motion was recorded.
7Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned.
Adjournment motion carried.
What this meeting did about specific topics, organized by issue rather than by document.
COVID-19 local emergency declaration
Council considered whether Nowthen should declare its own emergency in response to COVID-19. Mayor Pilon recommended not declaring one because federal, state, and county declarations were already in place and staff did not see an additional city authority or reimbursement need. Council Member Rainville moved that the city not declare an emergency, Breyen seconded, and the roll-call vote was unanimous in favor.
Agenda: 2. Motions: M1. Speakers: Mayor Pilon, Council Member Rainville, Council Member Breyen, Council Member Blake, Council Member Greenberg, Jerry Streich, Commander Heath.
COVID-19 city facility and service changes
The city moved to reduce public contact during the pandemic. The minutes record that the city office and recycling facility would close to the public until March 31 for reevaluation, City Hall would be closed to the public, meetings would be cancelled or postponed, permits would be handled remotely, and contractor/code-enforcement involvement would be limited to public-safety risks. Parks were not fully closed, but equipment would be posted as not maintained and restrooms would not be open.
Agenda: 3. Speakers: City Clerk Streich, Mayor Pilon, Council Member Blake, Council Member Greenberg, Council Member Rainville.
Capstone emergency management and fire services consulting
Mayor Pilon reviewed the city’s existing Capstone Professional Safety Solutions contract for public safety and emergency management consulting. He said Jerry Streich had already been working with surrounding cities on fire-service options and related legislative language, and that the city would continue using him for emergency-management advice and public information during the pandemic while fire-service planning continued.
Agenda: 4. Speakers: Mayor Pilon, Jerry Streich, Council Member Breyen.
Sheriff, fire, ambulance, and medical-response changes during COVID-19
Commander Heath explained that the Sheriff’s Department was still responding to emergency medical calls, but had begun limiting exposure on non-emergency illness calls by waiting for fire, rescue, or ambulance requests before sending deputies. Dispatch was asking screening questions about travel and flu-like symptoms, and deputies were taking some lower-priority reports by phone. Jerry Streich cautioned that police and fire medical response might need to be reconsidered if the outbreak worsened.
Agenda: 5. Speakers: Commander Heath, Mayor Pilon, Jerry Streich.
Public communication, local businesses, and volunteers
Council discussed keeping residents informed through the city website with links to federal, state, county, and health-agency information. Mayor Pilon said the city had limited ability to assist businesses directly but could encourage them and help share information. He also described a plan to have residents or groups offering help contact the city with specifics so staff could help connect volunteers with residents who needed assistance.
Agenda: 6. Speakers: Mayor Pilon, Council Member Breyen, Council Member Blake, Commander Heath.
2 motions on the record. Split votes are highlighted.
M1MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER RAINVILLE THAT THE CITY NOT DECLARE AN EMERGENCY, SECONDED BY BREYEN FOR DISCUSSION
moved by RAINVILLE, seconded by BREYEN
M2MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 7:28 PM BY RAINVILLE, SECONDED BY BLAKE; ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.
moved by RAINVILLE, seconded by BLAKE
ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.
Each figure links back to the document it came from. When the council voted on the amount, the motion is shown.
Porta-potty cost discussed during COVID-19 facility closure discussion
A porta-potty cost was mentioned while Council discussed returning the porta-potty because the facility would be locked or not in use.
expenditure · Parks/facilities sanitation · FY 2020
$83
outflow
Council approval status: not yet on record.
When someone tried to remember earlier business, we cross-reference the corpus and write a short related-history note.
Mayor Pilon explained that the contract that they signed with Capstone Professional Safety Solutions stated professional consulting services related to public safety and emergency management. Council's intention was to utilize Jerry to help us work with our surrounding cities to come up with the best solution for our fire services.
— Mayor Pilon
What this is about
Prior Capstone contract and the city’s earlier intention to use Jerry Streich for fire-service planning and emergency-management consulting.
The records I searched do not contain a prior decision matching this recollection about a Capstone Professional Safety Solutions contract, Jerry Streich, or using that contract for fire-service planning with surrounding cities. The closest related item in the results is from the April 14, 2022 agenda packet, where Council discussed hiring help for the City Administrator recruitment process and Mayor Pilon requested authorization to enter into a contract with a third party after reviewing the budget. That item appears to concern administrative hiring support, not public-safety, emergency-management, or fire-service consulting.
We have legislative language that has been drafted and it began moving forward but then the house shut down and we may or may not have an opportunity yet this year to get that legislation passed.
— Mayor Pilon
What this is about
Prior legislative work related to the city’s fire services project.
The records I searched do not contain a prior decision or discussion matching Mayor Pilon’s recollection of drafted legislative language for the city’s fire services project, or of that language being delayed because the House shut down. The search results returned unrelated packet material, mostly land-use conditions, subdivisions, cannabis interim use conditions, and court data service language from 2025–2026. None of the results identified a council action, vote, bill language, or legislative update tied to the fire services project.
The Councils have made a decision to provide additional care and allow the fire departments to respond and our Sheriff's office, because our geography creates a longer response time for the ambulance.
— Jerry Streich
What this is about
Prior council decisions to provide additional medical response through fire departments and the Sheriff’s Office because of ambulance response times.
The records searched show a partial match, but not the prior council decision described. At the April 14, 2026 meeting, the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office gave its monthly report and said deputies had responded to 147 calls for service in March 2026, including 19 medical calls. The same report also noted the city’s “long-standing partnership” with the Sheriff’s Office, but the minutes do not record a council vote at that meeting to authorize deputies to provide medical response because of ambulance response times. The search results do not contain a matching prior decision involving the fire departments providing additional medical care or first response due to Nowthen’s geography or ambulance response times. They also do not show a formal vote or dollar amount tied to that recollection.
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FIVE AYES c) Discuss City Administrator Position to be Filled, Job Description, Process, Timeline and Participates The city council needs to decide what is the position to be filled. City Clerk, City
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## 6. PLANNING AND ZONING a) Consider Approval of final plat and development agreement of Dryden Acres b) Consider Approval of Amended CUP for an Extended Home Occupation, 6700 Viking Blvd. Planner St
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Every document and recording archived for this meeting.
Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)
Minutes · 2020-03-17
5 pages
Meeting recording
YouTube
Transcript · 513 segments · 1:20:30
The structured brief on this page is auto-generated and may need correction. The PDFs and the meeting recording remain the official record.